In the timeless spirit of silly news (please, no puns about how the rodent must have been "nuts"):

Rogue squirrel forces down plane

Thursday, February 15, 2007

The squirrels have returned.

Just when the squirrel menace looked like it might have faded away, an American Airlines flight from Tokyo has been forced to make an emergency landing in Honolulu because a rogue squirrel had managed to sneak on board.

The squirrel emergency was discovered when, on the flight from Tokyo to Dallas, the pilots heard what has been described as a 'skittering' noise in the space above the cockpit.

Subsequent investigations revealed that the noise was caused by an insurgent squirrel that had somehow managed to board the flight.

The plane was forced to make a quick landing in Honolulu, Hawaii, as the pilots were worried that the squirrel could severely damage the plane by chewing through wiring.

The passengers were taken off the plane when it landed, and were forced to spend the night in hotels while wildlife officials hunted down the squirrel. Eventually, they caught it, and – fearing it might have rabies – killed it.

Nobody knows how the squirrel got on the plane.